Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Drama of Ancient Greece Essay - 2207 Words

Drama of Ancient Greece The Greek dramatists have bequeathed immensely to the current mode of modern Western literature. Shakespeare and his contemporaries revered them for their distinct and explicit language, their dramatic scenes, and their extravagant processions. The language of their stories has connoted itself into both, the Western dialect and Western literature in general. The establishment of Ancient Greek culture that has left the most immutable impression on our current world is the myth. The many mortal heroes who are seen throughout the extensive deployment of myths are accompanied by the ostentatious and mighty immortals, led by Zeus in the palace on Mount Olympus. Their structural case is not restricted to†¦show more content†¦Her son, Eros, inherited both, her mischievous nature and her iconography. Apollo was the god of light, the intellect, the arts, and healing. He was the son of Zeus and the Titan, Leto. Also heralded as Phoebus, Apollo signifies light, order, and the sun. The most beautiful of all the gods, Apollo represents the more rational side of both the universe and man. His oracle at Delphi, on Mount Parnassus, was revered throughout the mortal world as a vessel of Apollo’s predictions for the future. Mortals sought the oracle from vast distances to discover the will of the gods. Ares/Mars was the god of war, and the son of Zeus and Hera. He loved to fight, and to cause torment and battle, although he lost his courage immediately after he himself was wounded. Followed by Panic, Terror, and Trembling, and accompanied by his sister, Eris, and her son, Strife, everywhere Ares walked he brought death and violence. Artemis, who was the twin sister to Apollo and goddess of the hunt and unmarried women, had vowed to remain chaste. Attended by her hunting hounds and nymphs, Artemis ranged throughout the mortal forests, hunting with her silver bow. Any mortal man who saw her bathing, or in any way harassed her, met with a horrible fate. She changed one man into a stag and set his own pack of hunting hounds on him. Like the moon she was always related to, though, Artemis had two sides. She was gentle and protective towards women and their young children.Show MoreRelated Abuse of Power Reflected in the Politics and Drama of Ancient Greece2047 Words   |  9 PagesIndividual Abuse of Power Reflected in the Politics and Drama of Ancient Greece The Greeks believed that too much power entrusted in one person was dangerous. They were the first democratic society in a tumultuous world of kings and emperors, and they were proud of their ideology. Considering their fervent belief in rule by many, its not surprising that many Greek dramas revolve around an individual hero or a kings fall from power because of pride or some other personality flaw. Well-knownRead MoreAncient Greek Theatre and Drama1648 Words   |  7 PagesAncient Greece, the birthplace of theatre, continues to greatly influence theatre today. Drama is a form of poetry, because dialogue was spoken or sung in verses. Many Greek plays are still relevant today. Some plays survived on their merits, while others were preserved from academic interest or by accident (Peter Arnott). The Great Dionysia was an important yearly religious celebration and festival, honoring Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility. The Great Dionysia is where theatre firstRead MoreImpact Of Religion On Greek Theatre893 Words   |  4 Pagesvery large impact on Greek theatre. Religion was related to many everyday life tasks in ancient Greece such as festivals, initiations, and oracles. Religion was a very important subject and was something they used in their everyday lives. This is why, in my opinion ,religion had a high impact on Greek theatre. â€Å" The religion of Greek people is an important aspect of the Greek culture.†(Religion in Greece Source:www.greeka.com) Greek religion was a form of polytheism, which meant that they believedRead MoreAnnotated Bibliography On Ancient Greece1107 Words   |  5 PagesAnnotated Bibliography Ancient Greece Annotated Bibliography Ancient Greece was the birth place of many sciences, famous philosophers and the arts. A time where humans where constantly discovering many different things, forming new ideas and opinions about life each and every day. Various gods ruled these different city states. Mythology was very huge in Ancient Greece. There are so many different folktales and myths from Ancient Greece. Do you ever wonder if any of those ancient Myth’s were true? EverRead MoreRoman Theatre : A Diverse Art Form1045 Words   |  5 PagesRoman theatre initially began in 240 BC when Greek theatre was discovered and translated to Latin, then being brought to Rome. The first drama was held at Ludi Romani, the Roman Festival or the Roman Games. This occurred just before Rome became an empire in 27BC. There were many types of these festivals during a year for all sorts of reasons according to history. Theatre was, and is a diverse art form. It ranged from festival performances, street theatre, and acrobatics to eloquent tragediesRead MoreAncient Greek Culture808 Words   |  3 PagesAncient Greek Culture The culture of Ancient Greece consists of many traditions, religious practices, music, and foods. The Greeks were very religious people. There are a large number of religious festivals that were celebrated by the Greeks with great enthusiasm. Dance was also very important to the Ancient Greeks. It is said that they believed dance t improve both physical and emotional health. Men and women rarely danced together. Some dances were danced by men while others by women. TheRead MoreEssay on Ancient Greek Theatre1179 Words   |  5 Pagesworship in its self. The City Dionysia happened every spring in the Theatre of Dionysus, the first home of theatre and the form of the play. It was from the dithyramb that the roots of drama developed. In 534 B.C. the tyrant-ruler of Athens changed the City Dionysia by introducing the first of the drama competitions at the Theatre of Dionysus, a contest that would continue for well over one hundred years and that would involve playwrights that are still world famous in the twenty first centuryRead MoreHow Did Ancient Greece Influence Western Civilization951 Words   |  4 Pages The Western world was highly influenced by the ancient Greeks. The Greeks changed the way the world looks at art, math, architecture, philosophy, sports, and drama. Without the ancient Greeks, the modern world would not be the same. Men such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle changed the way we look at philosophy. The Athenians created the first known democracy, setting the stage for future governments. The Euclidian Theorem and the Pythagorean Theorem among others made mathematics easier and moreRead MoreEssay Greek Theater1157 Words   |  5 Pages Ancient Greek Theater is the first historical record of â€Å"drama,† which is the Greek term meaning â€Å"to do† or â€Å"to act.† Beginning in the 5th century BC, Greek Theater developed into an art that is still used today. During the golden age of the Athenians plays were created, plays that are considered among the greatest works of world drama. Today there are thousands of well-known plays and films based on the re-make of ancient drama. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Theater originated from the religiousRead MoreThe Festival Of The Gods Of Wine And Fertility1562 Words   |  7 PagesDionysus was celebrated by the ancient Greeks as the God of wine and fertility. Around 534 B.C.E., the Athenians and people from all parts of Greece started a tradition of coming together to worship Dionysus. All work and other activities in the City of Dionysia would come to a halt for a week so that the festivities could take place. The festival of Dionysus paved the way for plays and performances throughout history. For the first time actors started to be paid to rehearse their parts and perform

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Brain Controlled Artificial Legs - 2193 Words

BRAIN CONTROLLED ARTIFICIAL LEGS ABSTRACT: This paper describes a brain controlled robotic leg which is designed to perform the normal operations of a human leg. After implanting this leg in a human, the leg can be controlled with the help of user’s brain signals alone. This leg behaves similar to a normal human leg and it can perform operation like walking, running, climbing stairs etc. The entire system is controlled with the help of advanced microcontrollers and digital signal processors. The signals are taken out from the human brain with the help of electroencephalography technique. The person can perform operations like walking, running etc just by their thought. This system will be very much suitable for those who lost their†¦show more content†¦The following figure shows the different types of waves and also the mental state of the per-son. Those waves usually vary from a frequency of 1Hz to 40 HZ. Electrode cap is placed in the scalp of the person. The signals taken out from the human brain will be i n the range of mV and  µV. Hence they are fed to an amplifier. Then it is sent to a Analog to Digital Converter to convert the analog brain signals in to digital form. Then it is sent to a signal processor where parameter extraction, pattern classification and pattern identification are done. These digital signals are fed as input to microcontroller unit. The last four units (Amplifier, Signal Processor, Analog to Digital Converter and Microcontroller Unit) are placed inside the artificial leg. The output of the microcontroller unit is fed to the driving circuit. Let us see about these blocks in detail. Electrode Cap: a person wears an electrode cap. These electrode caps contains electrodes which are placed on the skull in an arrangement called 10-20 system, a placement scheme devised by the interna-tional federation of societies of EEG. In most applications 19 electrodes are placed in the scalp. Addi-tional electrodes can be added to the standard set-up when a clinical or research application demands in-creased spatial resolution for a particular area of the brain. High-density arrays (typically via cap orShow MoreRelatedArtificial Intelligence Essay656 Words   |  3 PagesArtificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence once something that people thought could only come out of science fiction novels and movies. But today that could all change because of a robot called Cog. Cog is an artificial intelligence that it’s creators have given a body. He is the future of AI and a new beginning for the field. His creator , Rogney Brooks, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, thought of creating cog, from inspiration from an artificial intelligenceRead MoreCognitive Science : The Scientific Study Of The Mind1193 Words   |  5 Pagesmethodology. One of the main features of cognitive science is the multifaceted method, and it uses linguistics, robotics, neuroscience, cognitive, the evolutionary approach, psychology, the emotion approach, the social approach, philosophy, and artificial intelligence (Friedenberg and Silverman, 2012). Cognitive Science uses all these different methods mentioned above, and this is why cognitive science is different. It takes form linguistic, philosophy, and neuroscience, etc. As a result, the traditionalRead MoreA Paper Presentation on Brain Controlled Car for Disabled Using Artificial Intelligence1667 Words   |  7 PagesA Paper Presentation on BRAIN CONTROLLED CAR FOR DISABLED USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Submitted on the event of Zeitgeist’09 At UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Read MoreNew Technologies Of Medicine And Their Effects On Reimbursement3402 Words   |  14 Pagesprinting. I continued looking and thinking about the world of medicine and all the things that researchers have found and what the human body is capable of. The technology that I found most interesting was movable, mind controlled prosthetic body parts, in particular the arms and legs. It’s amazing to see how far technology has come today in both cognitive neuroscience and biomedical engineering, and the many miracles that have been discovered through research. Today, over 100,000 people living in theRead MoreProsthetic Limb Research Paper3066 Words   |  13 Pagesall started with a very simple problem. Do you just give up hope when you lose an arm or a leg, or is there some other way to make the best of a situation? Hope was not given up by us persistent human beings and that is how artificial limbs were thought of. Instead trying to get around, we thought of artificial legs to help those who have lost them. Instead of only having one arm, we thought of artificial arms to be able to have two again. Prosthesis not only brought hope to those who were seriouslyRead MoreBrain-Computer Interfaces1221 Words   |  5 Pagescould change with this new technology called, brain-computer interfaces. This amazing technology will not only revamp military applications, but most importantly help the medical community substantially. It brings the possibility of sound to the deaf, sight to the blind and movement to the physically challenged. However, wit h all great ideas there is a downside, there are many technical and ethical issues that people are not willing to risk. A brain-computer interface, also known as a BCI, is technologyRead MorePhilosophy: â€Å"Explain the Differences Between Plato and Aristotle’s View of Reality†.818 Words   |  4 Pagesexisted) is erroneous thinking as no one can/has established such a link – real or otherwise. And even if a link is established it fails to explain all the Forms in the material world. At some point Plato fails to explain how this greater Form was controlled- how can Form control things? Was there energy in â€Å"Forms†? Aristotle’s assumption of the Theory of Forms was intimately integrated with his belief that we develop some type of biological and scientific wisdom of a primary substance (be it plantRead MoreWhat Is the Future of Bionics and Prosthetics?1111 Words   |  4 Pagesgetting close. Right now we have a bio-artificial liver device (BAL) that can take over the livers function until it has time to recover from liver failure. We also have artificial hearts that are used to keep a person alive until a heart can be ready for transplant. Prosthetics is also an awesome field. Right now we have hooks and other things to replace an arm but nothing that will give you feeling back or give you the dexterity you once had. We have artificial legs that are given to veterans and peopleRead MoreComparing Plato And Descartes The Matrix, The Allegory Of The Cave889 Words   |  4 Pagesliving life (Wachowski, A, Wachowski, L, 1999). Plato and Descartes paint a picture of perception of the Earth that rises questions of what is real. The Matrix is much different than the other stories, because it shows humans are controlled by an unknown artificial intelligent figure. The figure deceives individuals to believe that they are actually living a productive normal life in the world (Wachowski, A, Wachowski, L, 1999). Furthermore, the story of Descartes is different than the otherRead MoreImproving The Durability Of Prosthetic Limbs2065 Words   |  9 Pages I. INTRODUCTION I. Motivation and rational Did you ever think of how valuable any of your limbs really are? Did you ever try to imagine life without an arm or maybe even a leg? Well, it is not easy or it at least requires some getting used to. Even if you do not know it, many people have had their arm or leg severed during an accident, or to end the spread of a contagious disease throughout a person s body. As everything in this world has a history, so do replacement limbs. The first replacement

Monday, December 9, 2019

Concept of Total Factor Productivity-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Write a report on What is total factor productivity growth and why is it Important? Answer: Introduction Total factor productivity is a neo classical concept. The conventional growth model describes the output growth assuming constant return to scale with given technology. Total factor productivity was first accounted in Solow growth model. In Solow model, it is taken as a residual term that is portion of output that remains after considering the contribution of all other factors. The focus of the essay is to define total factor productivity and to explain its importance for the economy. Total Factor Productivity captures all the unexplained factors affecting output growth. In todays world, it has become a key determinant of economic growth. Most of the developed countries have accounted a higher rate of productivity growth. Even for developing nations, the contribution of Total Factor Productivity is notable. In this context, the development issues in Asia are discussed. After the global financial crisis, Total Factor Productivity contributed significantly in recovering the crisis. The growth of East and Southeast Asian countries accounted for huge growth rate in the late 1990s. The essay examines whether factor productivity is the driving factor for speculative growth experience in these countries. Total Factor Productivity Production Process comprise of utilizing the factor of production in the best efficient ways. The level of output depends on the scale of production. Total Factor Productivity (TFP) shows the production relation not in terms of quantity but in terms of quality (Van Beveren 2012). The amount of output depends on not only the quantity of input but also on how efficiently they are being used. It actually explains the residual output that is output beyond the quantity of input. There is a positive functional relation between the output of an economy and the physical and human capital invested in the production process. The future growth rate is computed by the observed growth of physical and human capital given the technology. The standard assumption of growth forecast is that the production function exhibits constant return to scale and there is perfect competition in the factor market. Mismatch between actual output and that is predicted is either due to violation of the standard assumption or due to change in the unexplained factors like institutional change, changes in the technology and so on (Erken, Donselaar and Thurik 2016). These deviating factors are together called growth in Total Factor Productivity. Measure of Total Factor Productivity Total factor Productivity traces out the contribution of technological progress in total output. This can be understood by using the following production function: Y = AF (L, K) Y= total output L= amount of labor input K= amount of Capital A is the technology used in production process. It is the measure of factor productivity. Economic growth is indicated by the growth of total output. The growth accounting expression looks as follows Growth in Output = Contribution + Contribution + Growth in Total Factor Of Capital of Labor Productivity This equation identifies three sources of economic growth; proportionate change in Capital, Proportionate change in Labor and change in factor productivity. and (1-) is the share of Capital and Labor in the production process following a Cobb-Douglas production function. Total factor Productivity cannot be measured directly. Cross Country, data are available on output growth, participation of labor, investment in capital. Using this information the growth of total factor productivity is calculated as output growth less the contribution of labor and capital. Thus, it gives an indirect measure of Productivity growth. A/A is the change in output that the physical factors fail to explain (Acs 2013) It is computed as a residual that is the proportion of output growth that is left after considering all the other components that can be observed directly. Importance of Total Factor Productivity The concept of Total Factor Productivity is crucial for growth accounting analysis. Nations with increasing factor productivity are able to attain a higher economic growth even when other factors remain constant (Van Ark 2014). Improvement in factor productivity can be achieved for various reasons. The most accounted reason is the change occurred from technological progress. With increasing knowledge about production technique, the factors can be used more productively. Apart from technological progress, there are other factors as well that can contribute to higher productive growth. Government intervention can increase or decrease total factor productivity. For example, if government raises its spending to improve the quality of education then the labor force become more productive and contribute to a higher output (Fontana and Setterfield 2016).On the other hand if the objective of the government is to protect the environment or to increase the workers safety then reverse result ca n be obtained. In this situation, government implements some law that forces the firms to invest more capital to reduce the pollution or to improve workers safety. Here, despite increase in capital investment output does not change. Hence, implies constant or decreasing total factor production. TFP provides explanation of short run and long run economic fluctuation, long run economic growth and Cross-country income differences (Fontana et al. 2016) The literature of real business cycle indicates a strong correlation of the productivity growth with the output and labor hours. The relation between TFP and long run growth is first traced by the growth accounting model developed by Robert Solow. In this model, technological progress is treated as exogenous. The effect of technological progress is captured with a slight extension of Solow growth model named as endogenous growth model where technology is taken as an endogenous factor affecting long run growth. By linking TFP with technological innovation, this has significant implication for business cycle fluctuation (Kurz and Salvadori 2014) Total Factor Productivity has become an important determinant of steady long run economic growth (Benigno,Ricci and Surico 2015).Economic growth is defined as a continuous increase in the per capita income, which in turn depends on the total output. A steady growth in output actually indicates Economic growth. Greater the return from the input higher is the output. Return from the invested input depends on the technology. Better technology means higher output per unit of input. Installation of advanced technology produces higher return from invested capital stock.TFP is also important in determining the output per worker. Change in the output per worker depends on the input per worker and growth in factor productivity. In Western and Southern Europe the combine, growth of measured input and Productivity is responsible for significant growth there ( Tung 2016). The inter country difference in per capita income is also explained by the Total Factor Productivity. Two nation endowed with same amount of natural resources may have different output growth. This is due to different return from input, which implies different factor productivity. Development issue in Asia and Total Factor Productivity Increasing total factor productivity growth is becoming a crucial factor for development of Asian economies especially after the global financial crisis recovery. Total Factor Productivity has increased significantly in the phase of recovery (Anand et al. 2014).Investment in human capital has improved the quality of labor force and hence productivity. The decision to open up the economy in different spheres and effective government intervention contribute positively to productivity growth. Most of the countries shifted their focus from physical capital accumulation to the growth of TFP. Previously the economy was suffering from a deficiency of capital and low per capita income. With the new strategy, it now shifted to middle-income group nations. The increasing stock of capital helped to handle the problem of diminishing marginal return to capital. Prior to 1990 capital accumulation was the driving factor of growth in Asia. Until 2002 this trend continued. Major shift in structural c omposition had taken place around 2002 (Imai et al 2014). Since then the importance of TFP in growth accounting started increasing. Prior to 2000 capital accumulation was significantly higher in Asia and the contribution of TFP was not that much. This is shown in the following table: Table 1: Average growth of output and input in Asia during 2000 Output growth 1.58 Capital 2.17 Human Capital 0.96 Total Factor Productivity 0.22 TFP relative to Output 0.14 (Source: Economic Planning Unit) Nations growth depends on both the manufacturing and service sector growth. The contribution of Total Factor productivity in development of service sector is also important. In this context, the case of Malaysia where service sector plays a dominant role in considered (Sufian and Habibullah 2014). The growth of service sector in Malaysia is primarily based on increasing efficiency. However, output growth in the concerned sectors and sub sectors are resulted from considerable technological progress along with labor and capital growth. As a result productivity growth is primarily targeted in different Malaysian plan. The targeted Factor Productivity Growth in 8th and 9th Malaysian plan is shown in the following table: Table 2: Contribution of Factors of Production Factor 8MP 9MP Growth (%) Contribution(%) Growth (%) Contribution(%) GDP 4.7 100 4.2 100 Labor 1.5 33.2 1.3 30.8 Capital 1.8 37.8 1.4 34.5 TFP 1.4 29.0 1.5 34.7 (Source: Economic Planning Unit) The increasing focus in TFP has proved fruitful for Malaysia (Lee and McKibbin 2014). The service sector growth is positive because of improvement in technical efficiency. The growth in sub industries is also contributed from the improved technical efficiency. Two sub sectors where TFP is a significant determinant of growth are real estate agents and advertising agencies. Though it is difficult for Malaysia to make its own technological innovation, focus should be given to the adaption of imported advance technology. Evidence from East Asia In the history of Asian growth experience, the speculative growth of some East Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan needs analysis. Given the importance of TFP growth, it is assumed that the main driving factor should be TFP growth. However, result turns to be opposite. Empirical evidence suggest that TFP growth of these countries was not that much high. In fact, it is zero for some countries. The growth resulted from rising capital accumulation. This gives a contrasting result to that fact that higher capital accumulation leads to technological enhancement (Gereffi and Wyman 2014). The evidence of output growth cannot be ignored for these East Asian Tigers. The growth of per capita income during 1960-1990 was even greater than that in United States. This moves the countries from world poorest countries to the world richest one (Jia and chao 2016). Detail study on the growth data found that increasing growth rate for East Asian Tigers is resulted from the massive increase in measured factor input. Participation of labor force, capital stock and educational attainment all increase simultaneously. For example, South Korea Investment GDP ratio reached 30% from a mere 5%. The percentage of working population having minimum high school education increased almost three fold from 26% to 75% (Cooke and Jiang 2017). Hence, most of the output growth is explained by the component of traditional growth theory like labor, capital stock and human capital. The special case of zero productive growth in Singapore is due to its own policy set up (Samaniego and Sun 2016). The government forced people there to save a significant portion of their income. Thus, the national saving is increased. Problem was in their way to adapt foreign technology. They skip several stages before launching the new technology to avoid cost. Hence, the ultimate result was a technological failure and zero productive growth. On the other hand, for China, Taipei a significant portion of overall growth is accounted by TFP. Conclusion The concept of Total Factor Productivity is important not only in explaining growth but also in explaining other important macroeconomic aspects. The long-term growth of nation is greatly influenced by the factor productivity. Business cycle fluctuation, inter country income differences are well explained with the help of total factor productivity. In neo-classical growth model, (Solow model) total factor productivity is computed as a residual term from the growth accounting equation. Later on, development of endogenous growth model made this concept clear by linking it with RD. With improvement in technology, factor productivity increases and hence output. Not only developed countries but also the developing countries are showing progress in technological front either directly investing in RD or imitating foreign technology. TFP has contributed a significant portion of output in Asian countries. Most of them have successfully adapt advanced technology by following learning by doing. Exception has obtained only in case of East Asian Tigers. Their higher growth rate is not resulted from high growth of productivity but it is explained by the accumulation of physical and human Capital. Special case is observed in Singapore that accounted virtually zero productive growth. As a whole Total Factor productivity is important for growth. Government should give increasing focus for the improvement in productivity growth by increasing investment in education, technology and the like to improve the growth scenario. References Acs, Zoltan J. "Economic growth, national systems of entrepreneurship and the solow residual."National Systems of Entrepreneurship and the Solow Residual (February 8, 2013)(2013). Anand, Rahul, Mr Kevin C. Cheng, Sidra Rehman, and Ms Longmei Zhang.Potential growth in emerging Asia. International Monetary Fund, 2014. Benigno, Pierpaolo, Luca Antonio Ricci, and Paolo Surico. "Unemployment and productivity in the long run: the role of macroeconomic volatility."Review of Economics and Statistics97, no. 3 (2015): 698-709. Cooke, Fang Lee, and Yumei Jiang. "The growth of non?standard employment in Japan and South Korea: the role of institutional actors and impact on workers and the labour market."Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources55, no. 2 (2017): 155-176. Erken, Hugo, Piet Donselaar, and Roy Thurik. "Total factor productivity and the role of entrepreneurship."The Journal of Technology Transfer(2016): 1-29. Fontana, Giuseppe, and Mark Setterfield, eds.Macroeconomic Theory and Macroeconomic Pedagogy. Springer, 2016. Gereffi, Gary, and Donald L. Wyman, eds.Manufacturing miracles: paths of industrialization in Latin America and East Asia. Princeton University Press, 2014. Imai, Katsushi S., Raghav Gaiha, Abdilahi Ali, and Nidhi Kaicker. "Remittances, growth and poverty: New evidence from Asian countries."Journal of Policy Modeling36, no. 3 (2014): 524-538. Jia, Junxue, and Yunxia Chao. "Growth strategy and TFP growth: comparing China and four Asian tigers."Economic and Political Studies4, no. 2 (2016): 156-170. Kurz, Heinz D., and Neri Salvadori. "12 Endogenous growth in a stylised classicalmodel."Revisiting Classical Economics: Studies in Long-Period Analysis(2014): 247. Lee, Jong-Wha, and Warwick J. McKibbin. "Service sector productivity and economic growth in Asia." (2014). Samaniego, Roberto M., and Juliana Y. Sun. "Productivity growth and structural transformation."Review of Economic Dynamics21 (2016): 266-285. Sufian, Fadzlan, and Muzafar Shah Habibullah. "The impact of forced mergers and acquisitions on banks total factor productivity: empirical evidence from Malaysia."Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy19, no. 1 (2014): 151-185. Tung, Jia Jun, Wee Wee Lau, Yi Hwee Lim, Zhen Siew Toh, and Iong Jiun Chua. "Economic Analysis on Foreign Labour and Total Factor Productivity Growth: The Case of Europe, United States, Canada and Malaysia." PhD diss., UTAR, 2016. Van Ark, Bart.Total factor productivity: Lessons from the past and directions for the future. No. 271. Working Paper Research, 2014. Van Beveren, Ilke. "Total factor productivity estimation: A practical review."Journal of Economic Surveys26, no. 1 (2012): 98-128

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Evolving The Gangster Genre Essay Example

Evolving The Gangster Genre Paper The word Genre is used in film to describe and categorize the different types of films that have certain elements that make them the same as the other films that would fit into that genre. The audience of the films should be able to recognise what the genre is through the way the characters act during the film, the certain places that its set in, and the actors chosen. These are the code and conventions that make a genre film. There are different types of genre like Horror, Comedy, Sci-fi, etc, but a popular one is the gangster genre. This genre includes many classic films of the genre such as Public Enemy (W. Wellman, US, 1931), Ones that you think might be a bit of a parody on the genre such as Goodfellas (M. Scorsese, US, 1991) and the films that completely question whether it should even be part of the genre like Pulp Fiction (Q. Tarantino, US, 1994). However, all 3 of these films, use the same codes and conventions, which put them all together in the gangster genre, even though these three films are completely different When I think of a film within the gangster genre movie I think of things like lots of bloody and gory violence, machine guns, the expensive cars, and the mafia family. I also think of two main characters that take themselves from the bottom of the society food chain, and work their way up to be one of the top gangster in the family. The gang or gangs in every different film will always have a don who runs the gang overall. As part of one of the main codes and conventions for gangster films, revenge always plays a big part. There is never a happy ending in any gangster film. We will write a custom essay sample on Evolving The Gangster Genre specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Evolving The Gangster Genre specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Evolving The Gangster Genre specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer At least one of the anti-heroes ends ups dieing at the end or during the course of the film. Most films in the gangster genre are set in cities like Chicago, New York, etc and normally have the characters exposing the myth of the American dream by showing that you dont have to stick to the rules to get rich, and lead a good life quickly. In gangster films we see the actors that we look as gangster actors today such as Robert DeNiro. The narrative structure in a gangster film would be the same structure that every other film made would have. It would have equilibrium to start off with, followed by a dis-equilibrium which is the middle of the film and then end it with the new equilibrium. The first gangster film that we watched was Public Enemy. When you watch the film, you immediately know you are watching a gangster film because all of the basic codes and conventions that are used within the genre. It is set in the city of Chicago, and through most of the film you see the illegal dealings that you associate with the gangster films. In the public enemys case it the dealing of alcohol due to the fact that the film is set in the time where the prohibition in America was around. The Public Enemy boasts one of the biggest gangster stars to ever appear in a gangster film called James Cagney who plays the role of one of the main characters, Tom Powers. What makes Public Enemy different to the two other films (Goodfellas, and Pulp Fiction) that is that the main character Tom Powers is a very violent man and cannot stay settled down to one women at a time, as you see throughout the film when he jumps between two women. Public Enemy is not an Italian gangster film like most of the audience would expect before they sit to watch it. The gang members are mostly Irish, which shows they used to timing correctly when they made this film because at the time the film is set, the Irish were at the bottom of society in America, because they were the immigrants and had to do the things we see in the film, to give themselves power. The director also shows the Irish descent of the gangsters because Powers and Doyle are typical Irish names and their Irish descent is mentioned near the beginning of the film. The Public Enemy also exposes the myth of the American dream in great detail. They do this when they show Mike (Tommys brother) getting married working hard in the army and earning very little money whereas we have Tommy who purposely breaks the law and does no hard work whatsoever, yet hes earning a lot of money. Because of Tom doing this all through the film, it is giving the impression that he is telling the audience that you can get a job but you will have to work hard and never earn anything as much as you would being in a gangster movement through lying to people, robbing people, and performing heists. But what it doesnt say is that theres always a massive consequence if you choose the life that Tom and Matt chose. You see this at the end of the film when first off all Matt is killed by the rival gang, and as Tom goes to seek out revenge, he is beaten up, then kidnapped from the hospital and killed. This also shows the death of the anti-hero code that goes together with the gangster genre. The second film that we watched was Goodfellas which (in a lot of ways) is very similar to Public Enemy. Like Public Enemy, we have a character called Tom (played By Joe Pesci). He is very similar to the Tom from Public Enemy because they are both very violent and unhinged figures in both films and both of them are murdered at the end of each film. Tommy in Goodfellas is not one of the two main characters that you get in gangster films. However, he does play one of the most important parts in the film because he is so unpredictable. The film is set around two Irish Americans, Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and Jimmy Conway (Robert DeNiro). Both Henry (Goodfellas) and Tommy (Public Enemy) show no remorse when it comes to women. You see this when they both cheat on their partners and show violence towards them as well, and both have very similar childhoods where both films show them in their past getting beatings from their fathers. This gives out the message that they were bound to live for committing crimes. The main focus in both films (Public Enemy and Goodfellas) is that the main characters are part of the surrogate or the gang family that Tommy and Henry are both adopted into at a young age and that their lives subsequently belong to those families. As you would expect in the gangster film, there are illegal substances being shipped around in Goodfellas as there was in Public Enemy, the only difference is that in Goodfellas it is cocaine and in Public Enemy it was alcohol. Both of the main characters when the join their gangs are introduced to the group of gangsters and are told and shown how you have to work your way up the gang hierarchy. The don or the gangs leader acts as the second father to both Henry in Goodfellas and Tommy in Public Enemy. A massive similarity between Goodfellas and Public Enemy is that both main characters have brothers called Mike. It is things like this that we can use to back ourselves up when the point of Scorsese basing some of Goodfellas on Public Enemy comes into play. However, Goodfellas does have its differences. For example the film starts at a point thats also shown half way through in Goodfellas. But with Goodfellas, its a good way to start as it is a big part in the film where everything starts to go wrong and the fortunes change for Jimmy and Henry. However, after they do that, it does go back to the beginning to show the audience how they got into that situation and how they get out of it. Scorsese plays with the order of the film, by putting the dis-equilibrium at the start to keep the audience interested and make them want to watch to see how they got into that situation, and to make them think and get involved with the film. Goodfellas is set around the typical mafia family that you would expect to see in gangster films. As you see near the start, Henry messes his women about and cheats on them but eventually he settles down and marries Karen which you dont see with Tom in Public Enemy. In Goodfellas, our main character does not die but because he tells on his fellow gang members, he is forced to live in secrecy which because of this, it is as if he is dead, because he cant contact anybody from his previous life as a gangster. In Goodfellas, Henry is shown to be the nice guy gangster as he is really not into killing people and we see this in the scene with one of the other gangsters in the boot of the car. Henry steps back as the other two gangsters stab and finish the body off. At one point in the film, we get Karens point of view which shows a shift in representation and treatment of women from the 1930s in Public Enemy to the 1990s in Goodfellas. Also, in Goodfellas there are a lot more bent law enforcement people ranging from policemen through to lawyers, judges and also prison officers. You can still say that Goodfellas as a gangster film even though there are a lot of differences between the Public Enemy and Goodfellas. You can see that things used in a documentary are used throughout for example the voice over, and the freeze frames. There is also a sense with Goodfellas that Scorsese makes fun of the gangster genre with mockery and the fact that they are so well off they buy things even though they are tacky and horrible for example the T. V. area that turns around that Harry and Karen buy during the film, and with the name Jimmy two times because he ends sentences by saying the same word twice. Scorsese also puts a lot of upbeat music some shocking violence; this gives the impression that it is not such a big deal to kill someone in that kind of lifestyle. Also with the character Tommy we can see that the character is happy to kill anyone he can, so Scorsese is tries to make us happy and feel easier that the mafia is killing people in his film. The final film that we sat, watched and studied was Pulp Fiction. Pulp fiction is not like any of the other gangster films and some, may even say that you cant really class it as a gangster film. I personally think you can class it as part of the gangster genre; I think this because you can see that is doesnt have many things in common with classic gangster films like Public Enemy and Goodfellas which is what is good about the film, because it makes it completely different from the other gangster films, which would make fans of the genre want to sit down and watch it. Like Public Enemy and Goodfellas it has the basic elements of violence and guns, and has the main characters in men in suits, but hat makes them different are the fact that you can tell they are not expensive suits, because they look so tacky. And also another basic element with gangster films, are illegal substances, but this time they are getting used for personal use instead of being sold of to others by the gangsters. The gang has another don style character who is called Marsellus Wallace. There is also a revenge factor with Butch getting back at Marsellus. And just like Public Enemy our anti-hero, Vince, is killed. But for every similarity Pulp Fiction has with Goodfellas and Public Enemy there are also the differences that make it a completely different film. Tarantino plays mainly with the narrative structure of Pulp Fiction. By doing this he leaves the audience confused but thinking about what is going on and what is going to happen. He also has put multiple narrative structures into the film which focuses on the different characters. The reason Tarantino does this is because he knows that his own gangster film can be so much different from the likes of Goodfellas, and Public Enemy. Tarantino also plays with the basic codes and conventions that you would expect to be in a gangster film. A prime example of him doing this is when he puts in a happy ending which is not common in the gangster genre, because with gangsters you never expect a happy ending. There is no money making schemes at all in the film and we dont see any illegal substances being sold to other dealers. In another uncommon scene we see a different way as to how women in gangster films are shown with Mia Wallace (Uma Thurmann) being powerful and the subject of a rumour that is going around that makes Vince fear for her when he takes her out as a favour for Marcellus and also when she overdoses on the drugs she finds in his jacket pocket. I dont think that any of the 3 films I have descried are the same because I have shown so many differences between each of them, that in my opinion, can swing anyones views on these 3 films if they thought differently to me. I know that they are very different from eachother, because if every film of its genre was the same, then I wouldnt want to watch them because I would know what is going to happen and it would become boring. Also because of the changes in society that happen every single day, it would become very hard to make the same film because we see the changes that are representing the social groups such as women so if we were to make a film like Public Enemy, It would come under a lot of criticism because of what happens in public enemy when it comes to women, and it wouldnt happen nowadays to women. However, the similarities between the 3 films are needed so we can categorize them into the gangster genre but we also need differences to tell the genres apart and also to tell the films apart, so the films end up making us feel familiar with the genre that its part of, but at the same time, gives us some original ideas that could also help us define it as a gangster film, and the audience also like to be able to know what is going to happen in the film but at the same time they want to have the element of surprise that most of the time actually ends up making the film as good as its meant to be.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The lesson essays

The lesson essays In Up dikes A and the Barbaras The Lesson both stories are portrayed as using slang and even foul language to get their views across. Many of the language used expresses how both narrators view their way of life. The narrators are both a part of different societies, which shows how language differs in both characters. The foul language used in both stories does compare to the modern way our young youth talk today in every day life. Both narrators in both stories experience different views on situations that they are faced with. In The Lesson Sylvia seems to disagree on everything Mrs. Moore is trying to make a point of how poor need to wake up and demand their share of the pie (163). Her language also expresses her views of Mrs. Moore. For example, Sylvia states, she was always planning these boring-ass things for us to do (159). Which shows that Sylvia had no interest on what Mrs. Moore is actually trying to teach these kids, is not to plan boring things for them to do but to take them out in the real world to see exactly how societies are different from what they grew up in. Furthermore, Mrs. Moore takes the kids to a toy store located in a suburban town outside of Boston on Fifth Avenue where mostly the white people are located, to brose around inside and look at all the different toys and their extremeness prices. Mrs. Moore wants to set an example for them how what kind of society they live in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or seven (164). Sylvi a is a poor child who grew up in the slums, which explain her everyday use of foul language due to the environment; she grew up in and can relate today on how you could live in different parts of your city or hometown and have different use of language. Sylvia also states how she never talked to Mrs. Moore how she wouldnt even give the bitch the satisfaction (162)....

Saturday, November 23, 2019

History of the Hula Hoop - Trivia and More

History of the Hula Hoop - Trivia and More The hula hoop is an ancient invention - no modern company and no single inventor can claim that they invented the first hula hoop. In fact, the Ancient Greeks often used hooping as a form of exercise. Older hoops have been made from metal, bamboo, wood, grasses, and even vines. However, modern companies re-invented their own versions of the hula hoop using unusual materials, for example; plastic hula hoops with added bits of glitter and noisemakers, and hoops that are collapsible. Origins of the Name Hula Hoop Around 1300, hooping came to Great Britain, homemade versions of the toy became very popular. In the early 1800s, British sailors first witnessed hula dancing in the Hawaiian Islands. Hula dancing and hooping look somewhat similar and the name hula hoop came together. Wham-O Trademarks and Patents the Hula Hoop Richard Knerr and Arthur Spud Melin founded the Wham-O company, which helped popularize another ancient toy, the frisbee. Knerr and Melin started the Wham-O company from their Los Angeles garage in 1948. The men were marketing a slingshot originally invented for training pet falcons and hawks (it slung meat at the birds). This slingshot was named Wham-O because of the sound it made when it hit the target. Wham-O also became the companys name. Wham-O has become the most successful manufacturer of hula hoops in modern times. They trademarked the name Hula Hoop ® and started manufacturing the toy out of the new plastic Marlex in 1958. On May 13, 1959, Arthur Melin applied for a patent for his version of the hula hoop. He received U.S. Patent Number 3,079,728 on March 5, 1963, for a Hoop Toy. Twenty million Wham-O hula hoops sold for $1.98 in the first six months. Hula Hoop Trivia Japan once banned the hula hoop because the rotating hip action seems indecent.On June 4, 2005, Australian Kareena Oates set a Guinness world record for hula hooping - with 100 hoops for three full revolutions.101 hoops were spun by Alesya Goulevich of Belarus on June 11, 2006105 hoops were spun by Jin Linlin of China on October 28, 2007.The world record for the largest Hula Hoop (by circumference) spun was set by American Ashrita Furman at 51.5 feet on June 1, 2007.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Strategic Groups Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic Groups - Essay Example This paper aims at discussing the rivalry that strategic groups face and how they aim at neutralizing the competition. The paper discusses the rivalry between Google Incorporation and other rivalry groups that offer similar services and products. Google and Microsoft have been on market command wars while Samsung and Apple have also been battling it on the mobile phone productions. Google in particular has several strategic advantages that have enabled it to emerge the strongest internet provider in the world. Google has been able to employ strategies such as product and service diversity that has provides the company with greater sales. Google also possess one of the largest geographic coverage in the world. In addition to this, Google has several numbers of market segments that it is serving. Apart from internet production, the company also provides image and graphic production software. The company also provides mobile phone applications in addition to mobile phone production. The company also enjoys good distribution channels that provide it with the best strategic advantages. The extent at which Google brands its product cannot be compared to other rival companies. This is because the company is bale to brand and market its products cheaply and efficiently through the internet that the company owns. The degree of vertical market integration in Google Company is also very efficient. Product and pricing policies for the company has also been superb enabling the company to enjoy wider markets and retain most of their loyal companies (Porter, 1980). On the other hand, Microsoft Incorporation enjoys the best PC software producer in the World. It is estimated that almost 90% of the PC’s in the world uses Microsoft Software. Analysts argue that without Microsoft, Google would find no base for their supplies since the internet utilizes Microsoft applications in computers. Yahoo Incorporation is also another strategic group of company that offers similar ser vices like Google. The rivalry has led to the attempt of Google trying to purchase Yahoo. Background Information and Strategic Benefits Larry Page and Sergey Brin studied at Stanford University and own 16% of the total company’s shares formed Google Inc. they are the founders of Google Inc. The company came into existence in 1998 as a private company but later went public in 2004 when the company invited other shareholders into the company. The two friends invited their fellow student Craig Silverstein who also studied computer science as their first employee. The company runs on a vision of organizing all the information in the world and making it readily available for all the users in the world. The company also runs on a slogan â€Å"don’t be evil† which has helped it in its growth (Why is Google so great 2007). The Company’s history dates back in 1998 when Larry and Sergey decided to upgrade Backrub a search engine that was operating on Stanford sever s for almost more than one year. The two friends decided to change the name from Backrub to Google which is a mathematical term that is used in referring 1 then the digit is followed by 100 zero digits. Their decision to land on the term was later used in forming the vision. The number of zeros signifies infinity, which means looking for all the world information, which is almost impossible. The same year the company received a donation of $100,000 from Andy Bechtolsheim who is now the co-founder of the company. In December, the same year the company was recognized as one of the best 100 websites in the world and it had an efficient way of providing feedback to its users. In 1999, the company improved its employees to eight and therefore had to shift into a larger working place. The following year

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Readers response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Readers response - Essay Example Finally, the plotline has almost nothing to do with a love story. Faulkner introduces Miss Emily Grierson as a woman who has never been provided an opportunity to become comfortable or familiar with the world outside of her father’s old world ideals. This created a situation in which Miss Emily â€Å"got to be thirty and was still single† (437), forced to live in her maidenhood forever and lacking any connection to the rest of the world. Her inability to relate to the real world outside her fantasy is seen when she refuses to acknowledge her father’s death. This reaction was considered strange and unusual by the people of the town who are narrating the tale, but justified by the way in which she’d been treated by this man. But this strangeness was forgotten when Emily started behaving like normal by dating Homer Barron and her retreat back into her house after he left seems understandable. The final revelation that she had killed Homer Barron and then slept with the dead corpse for years is surprising, but not out of ch aracter. The idea that this old lady slept with the decaying corpse of the lover she’d killed is really gruesome but makes a lot of sense at the same time. It seems unnecessary to explain why the story seems very gruesome. However, it also makes sense as the old people of the antebellum South continued to have troubles adjusting to the changing rules of society. Miss Emily was forced to become an old maid because there weren’t any more families of the ‘old ways’ that were close enough to her family’s old social position. By the time her father died, she was incapable of accepting any kind of change like a lot of people of the Old South were. She tried to break the mold a little bit when she started dating Homer Barron. He was a northerner and someone of a much lower social class than what

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Learning Styles Essay Example for Free

Learning Styles Essay The reason for doing this report is to try and discover which is my best and worst way to learn and then to come up with a strategy for improving my ability to learn. The first thing that I need to do is research what different learning styles there is, after I have done this I can determine what are my preferred learning styles. Types of Learning Styles After doing some research I have discovered that there are four main ways of learning. For each of these four ways there is a continuum, this continuum determines which particular style somebody may prefer. The first continuum of learning is Active and Reflective, this style is to do with the way in which a person may go about his/her learning. Active learners tend to retain and understand information best by doing something active with it, discussing or applying it in a hands on way. Reflective learners prefer to think about it quietly first. The second continuum of learning is Sensing and Intuitive, this style is to do with the information that a person has to learn. Sensing learners often prefer to learn and memorise facts but intuitive learners prefer to learn around new ideas and concepts. The third continuum of learning is Visual and Verbal, this style is to do with the way in which the information is presented. Visual learners remember best what they see e. g. pictures, diagrams, flow charts, time lines, films, and demonstrations. Verbal learners get more out of words including written and spoken explanations. The fourth and final continuum of learning is Sequential and Global. This style is to do with the way in which learners put together the information they have been given. Sequential learners tend to gain understanding in linear steps, with each step following logically from the previous one. Global learners tend to learn in large jumps, absorbing material almost randomly without seeing connections, and then suddenly getting it. To be an effective learner you need to be able to learn in every single way depending on the way in which the information is presented or the environment in which you are learning etc. This is why the best learners have balanced learning styles and therefore can adapt the way they learn. My Learning Style Preferences are? To find out my learning style preferences I took part in a on-line test (http://www. crc4mse. org/ILS/self_test. html) which asks a series of questions and then gives you a score for each one of the four learning continuums. For three of the continuums I was biased towards one particular style, these are active, visual and global. This would indicate that I learn best when I can get involved and try things out. It also indicates that I absorb information best when it is presented visually in things such as diagrams, tables, graphs etc. furthermore, the test showed is that I learn best if I get an overview of the whole topic before I start concentrating on the smaller details. The final thing that this test points out is that Im neither sensing nor intuitive. Due to this I am able to learn the facts surrounding a subject but I am also able to grasp theories and ideas. I absolutely agree with the results of this test and would say it is a fair judgement on my learning preferences. My Learning Style Weaknesses are? As discussed before the best learners have a balanced learning style and therefore my greatest weakness is that I dont have the ability to adapt my learning style to all situations. Because of this I may miss out on some vital information because it isnt presented in a format that I am totally comfortable with. Even though I am a good learner when I learn actively I dont learn as well when there is nothing practical for me to take part in, in order to re-enforce the things that I have learnt. I also find it difficult to absorb information when it is not presented in a visual format. Another weakness of mine is that in some cases I need to have an overall understanding of a subject before I appreciate the smaller details. This is a weakness because sometimes it can over complicate a topic if I try to understand everything before I understand the basics; therefore this makes it more difficult for me to put everything into context. The fact that I struggle to adapt my learning styles isnt my only weakness, by doing a skills audit I have discovered other areas of learning where I am weak. My weakest area in the skills audit is spoken communication. This includes things such as speaking in front of a group, expressing my views verbally and delivering a presentation. I feel the reason why I am weak in this area is because I dont like being the centre of attention and when I am I become very self conscious and nervous. I am fine when talking one-to-one but when it comes to talking in front of large groups I am not comfortable at all. This needs to be improved though because it is an important skill in any industry. My Strategy for effective learning is? The first step to make my learning more effective is by identifying my weaknesses. I feel that I have done this successfully by doing the online test and by completing the skills audit. The next step is to come up with a strategy to improve my weaknesses and make the most of my strength. I am aware that my spoken communication skills will improve with practice and by using stress management techniques when I am giving presentations, talks etc. but, trying to make my learning styles more balanced may be more difficult. To improve my reflective side of learning I could take time after lectures to read through my notes again and do further reading on a topic but I could also relate the things that I have learnt in the lecture to a practical situation and therefore learn it the way that best suits me. The way in which I could improve my verbal way of learning is by getting somebody to talk through a diagram, graph etc whist Im looking at it. This will allow me to recognise the information verbally as well as visually because I will be relating what the tutor is saying to something that I can understand easier. Finally the way in which I can become more of a sequential learner is by taking topics step by step and try to forget about the overall picture until I have gat all of the pieces. This will help me because it will stop me from getting confused if I stop thinking about things that arent important in the early stages. With all of these things it may be better for me to adapt what is being taught to me and fit it into my preferred learning style, rather than adapt my preferred learning style to fit in with the material that is being taught. If I do things this way I am always going to learn things in my preferred way but realistically I know this isnt always a possibility and therefore I am aware of the need to become a more effective learner.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Let the River Run :: essays research papers

Things occur in nature, that we as humans sometimes prevent from occurring naturally. For example - a dam on a river. Once put into use on a river, a dam simply stops or slows down the natural flow of the water. Sometimes this is for the better, however - sometimes, it is for the worse. This is the case in the Grand Canyon. Some rivers go through natural, periods of flooding and receding, at certain times of the year, or in occurrence with other geographical events. For the first time in thirty years, in March 1996, flood waters rages through the Grand Canyon. However, this was not the result of a natural flood. The Colorado River would experience this same type of man made flood, naturally. These floods would occur every year during winter and spring rains. This water has been released from an upstream dam. The dam was put into action in 1963. Since then, years of environmental damage have been adding up. Dams have been on the river for nearly a century - however, none were upstream of the Grand Canyon until this one was built in 1963.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rivers have a number of processes involved in their everyday activities that allow themselves and the land around them to flourish. When the flow of a river is disrupted, so are these processes. Rivers carry sediments. Along with carrying these sediments, they also deposit them, usually onto surrounding land areas. This deposition occurs when the flow of the water slows down. The amount of sediment a river is carrying generally gives color to it’s appearance. Before this dam was built, the Colorado River possessed a cloudy, rust color. Now, when the water is stopped at this dam, over 90 percent of it’s sediment is dropped. As a result - this gives the river a crystal clear appearance. Another result of the lack of sediment, is the beach erosion that is occurring. Some beaches have eroded to over half of their original size. This erosion is happening because the beaches depended on the annual floods to bring them a continuous supply of fresh, fine sand. The dam is trapping a majority of the sand. There are small tributary rivers that flow uninhibited into the Colorado River below the dam, they bring some sediment - but not enough. As well as these beaches depending on the floods - the rapids in the river, have this same type of dependence. Here, the floods would clear any debris from between the boulders, an area that is now choked.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

19th Century China

Drawing on what I’ve learned from class discussions and individual research, the 19thcentury in China brought a lot of failure and hardships. It was a time of unhappiness and rapid decline giving it a theme of â€Å"national humiliation†. There was a lot of corruption and rebellion during this period of the time. Around this time China experienced economic regression when foreign interests invaded the country. With the majority of the world expanding and advancing, China found itself on the back burner of this shift into a globalized world.China weakened in the adaption of the new world due to it isolationist ways. This period of rapid political decline and unhappiness was matched with an economic decline as well. China ill-prepared to handle the military and technological distresses from the West in the age of industrialization. Many say that the last few years of the 19th century were by far the worst for China. They had fallen into a state of chaos by the turn of the 20th century. The political structure was a very imbalanced structure in the sense that it did not seek equality.The imperial known as the Manchus were at the top of this political structure. The Manchus came from Manchuria, they ruled from 1644 to 1912 and became nearly conformed into China. The Manchus were known to be the last ruling dynasty to date. They were in charge when the Europeans begun to arrive in vast numbers. Internal trade was very important to China during the 19th century. The silk industry was very important, as it had been for many years. But the balance of the population and the ability to maintain it reached its highest at approximately 1779.Later on, it continued to rise but could not sustain itself at the same time. Accordingly, the orthodox of living and food available for every individual declined greatly. Eventually, with the rise of population, the ability to sustain its people and the average standard of living plummeted. Millions of people starved to d eath in the province of Shaanxi, a third of the population, all in one winter. Near to the end of the 18th century, China’s political administration experienced a tremendous decline. These problems were not very well known, even to the current Emperor.However, In addition to a combination of political and economic issues, the Emperor gave up the throne. Chinese society was made up of a hierarchy, which consisted of male officials. During this time the country was in shambles. The women in China during this time were extremely mistreated and limited. One very unfortunate sign of exploitation women was foot binding which became worse over time. In late 17th century England tried to convince the Chinese emperor to ease restrictions on trading privileges.The Chinese had always felt that they had enough and did not need anything else. With the downfall of political administration and economic failures, multiple wars that resulted in unfair treaties were further intrusions upon the once proud country. These treaties became known as the â€Å"unequal treaties,† made by the British and French after their invasions. In the early 19th century British importers began smuggling opium into China in order to surplus their acquisitions of tea for export to Britain.In 1839, China implemented its prohibitions on importing opium by terminating it, a large quantity of opium seized from the British merchants. Great Britain, which had been trying to end China’s limitations on foreign trade, reacted to this by sending battle ships to attack several Chinese coastal cities. This was known as the first opium war that last for two years. This was the first of many â€Å"Unequal Treaties. † China was defeated by the superior British and was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing.In 1850 China experienced the Taiping Rebellion, which is known to be the largest peasant revolution in Chinese history as well as one of the biggest civil wars in world history. The re bellion was anti-Manchu, anti-Confucianism and pro-Christianity movement. This revolutionary movement resulted in a three huge changes in China; it shifted military power from the Manchu to Chinese generals due to the Qing government mobilizing local Chinese army to fight the Taiping. It regionalized China and gave more economic and political power to local influences.This provoked anti-Manchu feelings and led to the end of the Qing Dynasty and the reestablishment of the Chinese nation. China had derived from world economic supremacy to a shattered semi-colonial country with a huge impoverished population. The last few years of the 19th century were China’s toughest ones, causing them to fall into a complete state of disorder as the 20th century was around the corner. This was not a good period for China, but they got past all their hardships and failures with time making them a stronger and more unified nation.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

It’s Effect to Education Essay

The researcher give their deepest and sincerest gratitude to Almighty God for the guidance and blessings in doing this study and for the knowledge and strength in all their understanding. The researcher wish to acknowledge Mrs. Riza G. Amarillo, our research paper writing adviser and consultant for her concern and encouragement in giving wonderful suggestions which enable the researchers to pursue the completion of this study. All respondents who contributed a lot of help to the researchers in gathering the needed data and information. To the researchers special someone who gave them inspiration; and last but not the least to their parents, brothers, and sisters for their financial support in the conduct of this study. Title: DOTA: its effect to education. Thesis Statement: People get addicted to DOTA because they enjoy making bets while playing it. 1. Introduction There are many students and even some young professionals are addicted to Defense of the Ancients or DOTA. This is a kind of computer games that can be played by many players and is one of the most popular games among young students. Many students are getting addicted to this game that they even spend long hours inside the computer shop just playing this game. There are studies that getting addicted in playing computer games greatly affect student’s performance in school besides of spending most of their money to rent a computer where they can play DOTA with their classmates. What makes the game more exciting is the deal to pay those who will win the game and it is already becoming a form of gambling. The time spent on the computer, playing DOTA games or cruising the internet reaches a point that it harms a child or adult family and social relationships, or disrupts school or work life, that person maybe caught in a cycle of addiction. Like other addictions, DOTA game has replaced friends and family as the source of a person’s emotional life. Increasingly, to feel good, the addicted person spends more time playing video games or searching the internet. When a person spends up to ten hours a day or more rearranging or sending files playing games, surfing the net, visiting chat rooms, instant messaging, and reading emails. They are spending more or less seventy to eighty hours a week online with the computer and it will probably result to major social, school and work disruptions. It can lead to irresponsibility and it triggers the player to lose his/her temper and values. Besides due to playing eating is irrelevant and it can lead to ADDICTION. 2. Meaning of Addiction Addiction is the continued use of a mood altering substance or behavior despite adverse dependency consequences, or a neurological impairment leading to such behaviors. Addictions can include, but are not limited to, drug abuse, exercise abuse, sexual activity and gambling. Classic hallmarks of addiction include impaired control over substances or behavior, preoccupation with substance or behavior, continued use despite consequences, and denial. Habits and patterns associated with addiction are typically characterized by immediate gratification (short-term reward), coupled with delayed deleterious effects (long-term costs). Physiological dependence occurs when the body has to adjust to the substance by incorporating the substance into its ‘normal’ functioning. This state creates the conditions of tolerance and withdrawal. Tolerance is the process by which the body continually adapts to the substance and requires increasingly larger amounts to achieve the original effects. Withdrawal refers to physical and psychological symptoms experienced when reducing or discontinuing a substance that the body has become dependent on. Symptoms of withdrawal generally include but are not limited to anxiety, irritability, intense cravings for the substance, nausea, hallucinations, headaches, cold sweats, and tremors. The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something. A habitual or compulsive involvement in an activity, such as gambling being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming. Computer addiction is a mental illness which causes the excessive use of computers to the extent that it interferes with daily life. Excessive use may explain problems in social interaction, mood, personality, work ethic, relationships, thought processes, or sleep deprivation. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not include a diagnosis for such a disease. The term ? computer addiction? originated long before the Internet. Some people develop bad habits in their computer use that cause them significant problems in their lives. The types of behavior and negative consequences are similar to those of known addictive disorders. Internet addiction disorder (IAD), or, more broadly, Internet overuse, problematic computer use or pathological computer use, is excessive computer use that interferes with daily life. These terms avoid the term addiction and are not limited to any single cause. IAD was originally proposed as a disorder in a satirical hoax by Ivan Goldberg, M.D. , in 1995. He took pathological gambling as diagnosed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) as his model for the description of IAD. It is not, however, included in the current DSM as of 2009. IAD receives coverage in the press, and possible future classification as a psychological disorder continues to be debated and researched. Online activities which, if done in person, would normally be considered troublesome, such as compulsive gambling, or shopping, are sometimes called net compulsions. Other habits such as reading, playing computer games, or watching a staggering amount of internet videos or movies are all troubling only to the extent that these activities interfere with normal life. Supporters of disorder classification often divide IAD into subtypes by activity, such as excessive, overwhelming, or inappropriate pornography use, gaming, online social networking, blogging, email, or Internet shopping. Opponents note that compulsive behaviors may not themselves be addictive. DOTA like drugs, is simply addicting for some. What is addiction anyway? Microsoft Encarta defines addiction as the habitual repetition of excessive behavior that a person is unable or unwilling to stop, despite its harmful consequences. People can be physically addicted to a drug, meaning they may suffer ill physical effects if they stop taking the drug. They also can be psychologically addicted to drugs, gambling, or other behaviors, meaning they feel overwhelmingly deprived if they attempt to stop. Although there is no major documentation yet if DOTA creates hallucination and other symptoms when one is deprived of it but twitchy fingers and DOTA talks are a common occurrence. Causes of Addiction 3a. Radiation The increased use of computers in the work place has brought about the development of a number of health concerns. Many individuals who work at a computer report a high level of job-related complaints and symptoms, including ocular discomfort, muscular strain and stress. The level of discomfort appears to increase with the amount of computer use. Visual discomfort and related symptoms occurring in computer workers must be recognized as a growing health problem. The complex of eye and vision problems related to near work experienced during computer use has been termed â€Å"computer vision syndrome†. Many individuals who work at a computer experience eye-related discomfort and/or visual problems. However, based on current evidence it is unlikely that the use of computers causes permanent changes or damage to the eyes or visual system. This report will review the factors relating to eye and vision problems associated with computer work and provide recommendations for preventing or reducing their development. Viewing a computer screen is different than viewing a typewritten or printed page. Often the letters on a computer screen are not as precise or sharply defined, the level of contrast of the letters to the background is reduced and the presence of glare and reflections on the screen may make viewing more difficult. Viewing distances and angles used for computer work are also often different from those commonly used for other reading or writing tasks. As a result, the eye focusing and eye movement requirements for computer work can place additional demands on the visual system. Older workers particularly may find adjusting to these working requirements difficult. Eyeglasses or contact lenses prescribed for general use may not be adequate for computer work. Specific occupational lenses prescribed to meet the unique demands of computer work may be needed. Special lens designs, lens powers or lens tints or coatings may help to maximize visual abilities and comfort. Computer workers who receive eye examinations and occupational eyewear have reported improved comfort and resolution of their symptoms. The quality and efficiency of their work have also been improved. Some computer workers may experience problems with eye focusing or eye coordination that cannot be adequately corrected with eyeglasses or contact lenses. A program of optometric vision therapy designed to treat specific binocular vision dysfunctions may be needed. A preventive approach to reducing visual stress from computer work incorporates the use of rest or alternate task breaks throughout the workday. Many computer tasks are repetitive and can become stressful both mentally and physically after an extended period of continuous work. Occasional rest or alternate task breaks are helpful to combat fatigue and stress. They provide an opportunity to incorporate different and less visually demanding tasks into the work regimen. Specific rest or task breaks should be based on the individual visual needs of the operator. 3b. Peer Influence Peer pressure is the influence exerted by a peer group or an individual, encouraging other individuals to change their attitudes, values, or behaviors in order to conform to group norms. Social groups affected include membership groups, in which individuals are â€Å"formally† members (such as political parties and trade unions), or social cliques in which membership is not clearly defined. A person affected by peer pressure may or may not want to belong to these groups. They may also recognize dissociative groups with which they would not wish to associate, and thus they behave adversely concerning that group’s behaviors. Peer pressure is most commonly associated with youth, in part because most youth spend large amounts of time in schools and other fixed groups that they do not choose and are seen as lacking the maturity to handle pressure from friends. Also, young people are more willing to behave negatively towards those who are not members of their own peer groups. Peer pressure can also have positive effects when people are pressured toward positive behavior, such as volunteering for charity or excelling in academics or athletics, by their peers. This is most commonly seen in youths who are active in sports or other extracurricular activities where conformity with one’s peer group is strongest. Pressure, planned or unplanned, exerted by peers to influence personal behavior. Peer pressure is the influence of a social group on an individual. When you were a little kid, your parents usually chose your friends, putting you in playgroups or arranging play dates with certain children they knew and liked. Now that you’re older, you decide who your friends are and what groups you spend time with. Your friends — your peers — are people your age or close to it who have experiences and interests similar to yours. You and your friends make dozens of decisions every day, and you influence each other’s choices and behaviors. This is often positive — it’s human nature to listen to and learn from other people in your age group. As you become more independent, your peers naturally play a greater role in your life. As school and other activities take you away from home, you may spend more time with peers than you do with your parents and siblings. You’ll probably develop close friendships with some of your peers, and you may feel so connected to them that they are like an extended family. Besides close friends, your peers include other kids you know who are the same age — like people in your grade, church, sports team, or community. These peers also influence you by the way they dress and act, things they’re involved in, and the attitudes they show. Peer conformity, sometimes referred to as peer pressure, occurs when individuals choose to adopt the attitudes or behaviors of others because of real or imagined pressure. In Western cultures, as the amount of time spent with peers increases, so does the influence and support they provide. 3c. Gambling Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value (referred to as â€Å"the stakes†) on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period. Gambling is also a major international commercial activity, with the legal gambling market totaling an estimated $335 billion in 2009. In other forms, gambling can be conducted with materials which have a value, but are not real money. For example, players of marbles games might wager marbles, and likewise games of Pogs or Magic: The Gathering can be played with the collectible game pieces (respectively, small discs and trading cards) as stakes, resulting in a meta-game regarding the value of a player’s collection of pieces. The act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning (including the payment of a price for a chance to win a prize) preoccupied with the pursuit of pleasure and especially games of chance. Betting (wagering) that must result either in a gain or a loss. Gambling is neither risk taking in the sense of speculation (assumption of substantial short-term risk) nor investing (acquiring property or assets for securing long-term capital gains). It also differs from insurance which may reduce or eliminate the risk of loss but offers no legitimate chance of gain. An activity characterized by a balance between winning and losing that is governed by a mixture of skill and chance 4. Solution to Addiction 4a. Don’t focus on computer games, play sports DOTA takes away the healthy physical activity from the basketball games or team sports that the youth is driven away from. It’s a theft that creates a diversion from sports and negatively diverts real sports that is, from taking place. To reduce the growing population of obese children in the world the parents need to encourage sports and outside play over video games. Kids in the world today know little about sports and the rules. But spend more time playing video games then outside being active. What happened to neighborhood hide and seek, or pick-up basketball games with other neighborhood kids. Today children are more interested in video games, computers and television, and parents are afraid of letting their children run around the streets because of kidnappings. When I was a kid I had video games but I spent most of my time outside playing. Being outside with the fresh air and the sunshine was the best thing for me. In this year today there are a lot of kids who don’t know how to play sports or are too obese to play sports. Take basketball for instants I personally think it’s one of the easiest sports besides football. The rules are simple in basketball, dribble the ball one hand at a time, and don’t carry the ball. Also in basketball it’s up to you and your team to score as many points as you can. But in the game of basketball like any other sport you have to work as a team. One of the major benefits you get from playing sports understands how to work really good with other people. In my mind TEAM means Together Everyone Achieves More, which means if you try to do everything by yourself you won’t get very far. Video games don’t teach you how to work with others. Also most of the video games today prompt violence and use profanity. The majority of kids are no longer interested in physical activity. There are a certain percentage of kids today that are addicted to video games. I believe that at a youth age kids shouldn’t be addicted to anything. Video games in today’s society have a negative influence on kids because it separates them from reality. We no longer live in a society where kids run around actively throughout the neighborhood. Late night soccer games, pickup games in the park, and innocence children are gone in sports. Today children are more interested in video game, computers and television, and parents are afraid of letting their children run around the streets because of kidnapping. The majority of kids are no longer interested in physical activity. Why do most kids enjoy video games rather than sports? Video games were first introduced in the 70’s and have been gaining popularity ever since. By the end of the decade video games had already become a preferred activity for kids. According to a recent study by Harris Interactive 1,178 children in the U.S, almost 9 percent of children gamers are pathologically or clinically â€Å"addicted to video games. However, 23 percent of youth say that they have felt â€Å"addicted to video games,† with about one-third of males and a little more than one in 10 females reporting the sensation. 4b. Focus on reading books Anyone who has played video games, or has watched someone playing video games, can easily see the level of focus required, and the endless hours a gamer spends very much interacting with this form of entertainment. Why? What is it about this medium that keeps kids glued to it in a way few things can? Hour after hour. And what do they say when they finish? That game was too short. The key thing is that video games are goal oriented. You set out to achieve something. And you know what that goal is from the off. Give the player a clear aim, make it difficult to achieve, let them go. That’s all it takes to get them hooked. Yes, flashy visuals and cool kill cams can make fan boys’ hearts flutter. But some of the most popular games are the most simple, from Pacman to Tetris to Angry Birds. These aren’t just useful questions to ask if you’re writing children’s books, or thrillers, they apply in some degree to any narrative structure. Learning how to build scenes so the reader is ever more interested and more invested in reaching the end is a delicate balancing act. If it’s too easy and predictable, they will get bored. If it’s too complicated and impossible to navigate, that will also put them off. Obviously there are big differences between books and video games, but one thing should be the same for both gamers and readers—they should reach the end and feel like they want more. 4c. Learn to save money Learning to save money is important for those experiencing income loss, out-of-control-debt or simply a desire for increased frugality. Whether you want to save money for long-term investing, to buy a new car or home, or just to increase your overall wealth, it’s important to go about it in the best way possible. Follow these tips when learning to save money. Teaching your children how to save and spend money helps them become smart consumers and financially responsible adults. Start the process when your children are very young by explaining the various values of coins and bills and teaching them that cash is exchanged for goods and services. As your children grow into teenagers, explain checking and savings accounts, credit cards, credit ratings and various types of investments so they have a comprehensive understanding of what it means to make smart financial decisions. 5. Conclusion 5a. Advantages and Disadvantages of Computer Advantages: 1. It helps you automate various tasks that you cannot do manually. 2. It helps you organize your data and information. 3. It has much more computing and calculating power then an ordinary human. 4. It may help your work to be a lot easier. It can help you communicate with friends, coworkers and other contacts. 6. It has many search engines to help you find information quickly. Disadvantages: 1. It can have negative effects on your social life and interactions with other people if you do not maintain the balance between time online and offline. 2. It may have a negative effect on your eyesight due to radiation. 3. It may cause pimples and wrinkles. 4. It may distract you from your studies. 5. Too much time in front of monitor may adversely affect your eyesight. 6. Sitting in front of a computer for too long without exercise can cause a weight gain. 5b. Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet Advantages 1. Information. The biggest benefit offered by the Internet is information. It functions as a valuable resource of information. You can find any type of information on any subject with the help of the search engines like Yahoo and Google. 2. Communication. The primary goal of the Internet is communication. It has done extremely well in this field, however the development process is still going on to make it more dependable and quick. By sending an e-mail, we can contact a person who is physically present thousand miles away within the fraction of a second’s time. 3. Entertainment. Internet functions as a popular medium of entertainment. A wide variety of entertainment including video games, music, movies, chat room, news and others can be accessed through the Internet. 4. E-commerce. E-commerce is the idea that is implemented for any form of commercial strategy or business transactions that entails transmission of data from one corner of the world to another. E-commerce has become a fantastic option through which you can shop anything. Formation of communities Internet helps in formation of communities or forums. Here a number of people can participate in different types of debates and discussions, express their views and gather valuable knowledge. 6. Services. A variety of services are offered via Internet, for example job searching, online banking, buying movie tickets, hotel reservations and consultation services etc. When you avail these services offline, they become more expensive. Disadvantages 1. Spamming. Spamming denotes distribution of unsolicited e-mails in large numbers. They are meaningless and they unnecessarily block the whole system. These activities are treated as illegal. 2. Theft of personal details while using the Internet, there is high probability that your personal details like name, address and credit card number may be accessed by con artists and used for fraudulent purposes. 3. Pornography. Pornography is definitely harmful for your children. There are numerous pornographic sites available over the Internet and watching any of those can have very bad influence on the mental health of your children. Virus threat. Virus is a program that interrupts the usual operation of your personal computer system. PCs linked to the Internet have high probability of virus attacks and as a result of this your hard disk can crash, giving you a lot of trouble. 5c. Advantages and Disadvantages of DOTA Advantages 1. Dota helps the youth who are playing this game to become mentally alert, cooperative, and strategic. 2. It increases their knowledge in mathematics by computing the gold’s, damages, magic and physical reduction present in the game. 3. Playing DOTA is for the youth to communicate teenagers who initially don’t know each other can easily be friends. Disadvantages 1. It can lead to irresponsibility. 2. It triggers the player to lose his/her temper and values. 3. Due to playing, eating is irrelevant 4. It can lead you to addiction! 5d. Advantages and Disadvantages of Facebook Advantages 1. We can keep in contact with our relatives or friends who live far away. 2. We can know what happens in our surroundings. 3. It can create fun and its rapidity of learning knowledge. 4. It can use as love attraction. Disadvantages 1. Waste of life! 2. Ruining your professional life. 3. It can create intrigues, fights etc. 4. It can lessen the dignity of a person. 6. Recommendation 6a. For problematic parents 1. Limit Internet access to public areas at least for certain times of the day and avoid having televisions and computer games in bedrooms. 2. Plan screen time, whether television or Internet use. For television, those are easy in the era of DVRs. Sit and watch a show you like then stop watching. For the Internet, which is more free-flowing, use an egg timer? Do the same for video games. Stress to children that they shouldn’t put anything on the Internet that they wouldn’t want on the home page of Google, YouTube, ESPN, StLtoday. com, etc. (Nothing on the Internet is truly private. ) 4. During exam times or other times when kids need to avoid screen time, delete games or programs or install passwords so the temptation isn’t there. Reinstall/remove passwords when exams or a report are complete. If a child is having difficulty with the Internet or screen time and none of the above recommendations are helping, contact your pediatrician. For addicted students 1. Complete a self-assessment test that will indicate whether you have truly problematic internet addiction. The Center for Internet Addiction has a free, online self-reporting questionnaire that measures internet habits, feelings, and emotions relating to internet usage. 2. Make a list of the ways that your internet usage may be disrupting your life. For example, is it interfering with relationships? Do you neglect chores or tasks that need to be completed because of your internet usage? Are you lying to others about your internet usage? These are clear signs of internet addiction symptoms. 3. Identify any specific websites or internet applications that are consuming the majority of your time when surfing online. A few examples or pornographic websites, web chat rooms, specific internet forums, or online games such as MMORPG. These things may be contributing to your internet addiction. 4. Adapt new time patterns for internet usage. The Center for Internet Addiction recommends practicing the opposite of your internet habits currently. In other words, fill the time that you would usually be spending online with tasks and chores that need to be accomplished. For example, if you use the internet on weekday mornings, reverse the schedule and only use the internet during weekend mornings. 5. Set clear goals for your internet usage to break the internet addiction. If you currently use the internet for forty hours every week, make a goal of twenty to twenty-five hours per week. Write these goals down in a journal or somewhere where you can see them everyday. 6. Compose a schedule of allowed internet usage times and set alarm clocks and other reminders of when you should log off. Try to limit yourself to 2 hours at a time maximum for each period of internet usage. Post this schedule near your computer and don’t forget to set your alarm or reminder. 7. Make a list of the negative consequences of your internet addiction and some of the benefits of regaining control of your internet habits. Keep this list in your pocket or in your wallet and take it out as frequent reminders of why you need to cut  down on your internet usage. This will help when trying to reach the goals you have set. 8. Take up new hobbies or spend more time outdoors to avoid the internet temptation. Exercising, jogging, swimming, biking, hiking, and going out with friends are all great things to do instead of spending time on the internet. In addition, by spending time doing other things your mind will be less consumed with your internet habits and you will reduce your internet addiction. 9. Consider seeking help from a licensed counselor or professional psychologist. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy can help with the thoughts and feeling associated with an internet addiction and can help with successful goal setting and reaching. 10. Join a local support group in your community for internet addiction. If there are no specific internet addiction support groups, join an addiction support group anyway to see if they can help. 11. Communicate openly with family members and friends about your internet addiction. Ask them to help encourage you with your goals; family members can even help by proactively helping you achieve internet usage goals that have been set.